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Australian self harm forum app TalkLife set to shut down

EDITOR'S NOTE: (20 March 2015) Since this story was first broadcast in 2013, TalkLife has received substantial funding. The organisation says it is no longer under threat of closing down.

TONY EASTLEY: The Australian founder of a popular free social media application which encourages young people to talk about topics like depression and self-harm, says he can't afford to keep it going.

Australian Jamie Druitt created TalkLife after going through a difficult period himself and wishing he could talk to someone else experiencing the same situation.

After a year the volunteer-run forum has more than 16,000 users around the world - the majority of them teenagers.

But a youth mental health expert says she's worried that the international success of the app means users aren't referred to specific professional mental health services.

Sarah Dingle reports.

SARAH DINGLE: There's no albums of happy snaps or 'like' buttons.

For its users, the standout feature of online app TalkLife is the ability to post a status update about what's really going on.

VOX POP: My best friend just nearly committed suicide and I'm not there to hug her or tell her it's all gonna be okay.

VOX POP 2: Can't sleep. I'm used to cutting before I sleep and now that I'm trying to stop I'm finding it hard, what should I do so that I don't cut?

JAMIE DRUITT: The content going through TalkLife, you know, some of it would blow your mind.

SARAH DINGLE: Jamie Druitt is a real estate agent from Adelaide. He started TalkLife a year ago after a relationship breakdown.

JAMIE DRUITT: I didn't have too many options or people to sort of talk to about what was really going on, what I was really feeling. I thought at the time that if I was feeling like that, then there must have been plenty of other people that are going through more serious things that don't have anyone to talk to.

And I thought that most people have their phones on them when they're sort of feeling at their lowest and they're probably sitting at home and really struggling with things, so we could put a pathway or create a platform where we could reach those people.

SARAH DINGLE: Now Jamie Druitt says TalkLife has more than 16,000 users in 120 countries.

Mr Druitt says he's spent about $45,000 of his own money on the app so far but he can't afford to keep that going.

At the moment he runs TalkLife out of Adelaide with four of his friends.

JAMIE DRUITT: We're just a bunch of young guys that are working and sort of meet late at night. We work on updates until early in the morning. It's just a bunch of volunteers really and we're all just passionate about the same thing.

We sort of have forecast our servers are going to be over- well, they're over capacity now actually, so... Our servers are well over capacity so we're trying to scale it throughout different times of the day so that our US users can- it doesn't slow down too much for them and yeah, we're just trying to come up with different strategies to pay the bills and keep the thing running.

SARAH DINGLE: TalkLife has guidelines about being a safe and accepting space, and users comment on each other's posts to offer advice or support.

More than half of the users are aged 13 to 17and none of them hold back.

JAMIE DRUITT: There's the talk of self-harm and cutting. It's things that when I started TalkLife I had no idea what kids were really going through. I thought that depression or suicidal thoughts but when I started sort of getting deeper involved in it, self-harming is incredible and it's something that is going through all of our schools.

JANE BURNS: If they're engaging in this then there is clearly a need but we want to do it in a way that's safe and it supports young people when they're at their most challenging times.

SARAH DINGLE: Jane Burns is the head of the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre, which examines ways to use technology to improve young people's mental health.

She says TalkLife's ability to get young people talking is great, but the fact that it's an international community means recommending mental health services becomes more difficult.

JANE BURNS: You don't want to create a group of young people who feel that they can only rely on each other in that community and not think about well, what are the services that are available.

Suicide contagion is real. It's a thing that happens that people who are at risk who hear about it, it can trigger bad feelings, bad thoughts.

SARAH DINGLE: Jamie Druitt says TalkLife is moderated by trusted members of the community around the world.

He says he's determined not to sell the app, but its international aspect makes seeking government funding difficult.

Without assistance, Mr Druitt says he'll have to shut down TalkLife for good within a couple of months.

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